Cancer incidence within a cohort occupationally exposed to asbestos: a study of dose–response relationships

• Published in: Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) Vol. 68; no. 11; pp. 832 - 836
• Main Authors: Clin, Bénédicte, Morlais, Fabrice, Launoy, Guy, Guizard, Anne-Valérie, Dubois, Brice, Bouvier, Véronique, Desoubeaux, Nelly, Marquignon, Marie-France, Raffaelli, Claude, Paris, Christophe, Galateau-Salle, Françoise, Guittet, Lydia, Letourneux, Marc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.11.2011; BMJ Publishing Group; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Amphiboles; Anatomy; Archives & records; Asbestos; Asbestos - administration & dosage; Asbestos - toxicity; Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Carcinogens - administration & dosage; Carcinogens - toxicity; Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal carcinoma; Colorectal Neoplasms - chemically induced; Colorectal Neoplasms - epidemiology; dose-response relationship; Dust; Employment; epidemiology; exposure assessment; Factories; Female; France - epidemiology; Friction; Health risks; Humans; Incidence; Inorganic dusts (pneumoconiosises) and organic dusts (byssinosis etc.); Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - chemically induced; Lung Neoplasms - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Mesothelioma; Mesothelioma - chemically induced; Mesothelioma - epidemiology; Mortality; Neoplasms - chemically induced; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Occupational Diseases - chemically induced; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Occupational exposure; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Occupational Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Occupational health and safety; Pathology; Peritoneal Neoplasms - chemically induced; Peritoneal Neoplasms - epidemiology; Regression analysis; Retrospective Studies; Risk Assessment; Surveillance; Textiles; Toxicology; University hospitals; Workplace; Basse Normandie; France; Calvados; Europe; Human; Asbestos; Digestive system; Lung; Gut; Malignant tumor; Occupational exposure; Respiratory system; Epidemiology; Incidence; Dose activity relation; Cohort study; Colon; Occupational medicine; Pleura; Public health; Cancer; Peritoneum
• ISSN: 1351-0711; 1470-7926; 1470-7926
• DOI: 10.1136/oem.2010.059790

ObjectivesThe aim of our study was to analyse the dose–response relationship between occupational asbestos exposure and risk of cancer.MethodsOur study was a retrospective morbidity study based on 2024 subjects occupationally exposed to asbestos, conducted over the period 1 January 1978 to 31 December 2004. Analysis of the dose–response relationship between occupational asbestos exposure, as a time-dependant variable, and risk of cancer was performed using a Cox model. In order to account for the effect of latency, we conducted the analysis with a lag of 10 years.Results285 cases of cancers were observed in our cohort. The relative risk of pleuro-peritoneal mesothelioma, lung cancer and colorectal cancer associated with asbestos exposure, adjusted for age as a time-dependant variable and for sex, was correlated with exposure intensity (or average exposure level, AEL). The risk of cancer, whatever the anatomical site, did not increase with the duration of exposure to asbestos.ConclusionWhile confirming the established relationship between asbestos exposure and pleuropulmonary and peritoneal cancers, this study also suggests a causal relationship between asbestos exposure and colorectal cancer.